Christie says he’s willing to change Social Security, Medicare to save them 

Days before the crucial first GOP presidential debate, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is proposing changes to Medicare and Social Security to save them from default in the next decade.

On Saturday, Christie urged Americans to consider raising the eligibility age for younger Americans to give them time to prepare and creating some means testing to exclude wealthy individuals from the programs.

“We have got to have this conversation. And other than me, nobody in this race is willing to talk about it. It's ridiculous,” Christie said during a conference in Atlanta hosted by conservative activist Erik Erickson.

The ex-New Jersey governor blasted Joe Biden and national Republicans for earlier this year agreeing they weren’t going to touch the two primary entitlement programs in America. 

“The most disgusting part of Joe Biden's State of the Union address this year was when he stood up, and he said, ‘We'll all agree, right? We're not going to do anything to Social Security?’ And both sides got up and cheered,” he recalled.

He called Washington’s party leaders “a group of liars and cowards, because they know they know that in 10 years, Medicare will be bankrupt. And in 11 years, Social Security will be bankrupt." 

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget is warning that benefits for the average retired couple would fall more than $17,000 per year if the Social Security becomes insolvent in 2033.

Christie said a simple but powerful fix would be to raise the eligibility age for Americans under 50.

“We can make real savings over the long term by playing with eligibility age,” he said. 

Excluding the wealthy through an eligibility test, another way to save the program, he said. 

“I’m sure he’s collecting it, but Warren Buffett does not need Social Security, he added.